Luo Shen City

For the next five days, Xiao Yan spent almost all his time in bed.

He made no further attempts to circulate the Flame Mantra. Instead, he sat quietly each day, using the power of his Emperor Realm Soul to carefully mend his ruptured meridians while closely observing the changes in the two forces within his body.

The repairs were painfully slow. The two forces never stopped clashing, and as soon as he mended one crack, another would split open elsewhere. It was like trying to mend a garment with needle and thread while it was still being torn apart.

Fortunately, the power of his Emperor Realm Soul remained Xiao Yan's greatest reliance. Under the protection of that mighty soul, his injuries finally stabilized bit by bit. At the very least, he no longer coughed up blood at every turn.

On the morning of the fifth day, Xiao Yan was finally able to get out of bed and walk.

"Brother Xiao, are you really going into the city?"

On the path at the village entrance, A Heng carried a basket full of herbs on her back. She looked worriedly at Xiao Yan beside her. "Your injuries haven't healed yet."

"I'm fine. A walk will do me good and loosen up my muscles and bones." Xiao Yan smiled. He had changed into an old set of A Heng's grandfather's coarse cloth clothes. His black robes had been torn to pieces during his fall, and the Heavy Xuan Ruler was too conspicuous, so he had put it in his Storage Ring. Now he really did look like an ordinary young man from a mountain village.

Every few days, A Heng went into the city to sell the herbs she had gathered to an apothecary, earning some money for household expenses. Xiao Yan was going along with her.

It was about thirty li along the mountain paths from Bluestone Village to Luo Shen City. In the past, Xiao Yan could have crossed that distance in a single step, but now he was drenched in sweat and had to rest several times along the way before he managed to keep up with A Heng's brisk pace.

A Heng chattered nonstop all the way, while Xiao Yan listened quietly and occasionally asked a few questions. From this mountain girl, he gained a little more of a superficial understanding of this world.

For instance, the cultivators of this world cultivated Spiritual Energy. From lowest to highest, their realms were the Sensing Realm, Spirit Movement Realm, Spirit Wheel Realm and Divine Soul Realm. Above the Divine Soul Realm were existences known as Sovereigns.

Above Sovereigns, there were the even more terrifying Earthly Sovereigns. As for what lay above Earthly Sovereigns, A Heng did not know, for in her eyes, Sovereigns were already figures akin to immortals.

There was also the currency used throughout this world, known as Supreme Spirit Liquid. It was said to be an essence condensed by Sovereign experts from their own Spiritual Energy. Every drop contained exceptionally pure Spiritual Energy and could be used not only for trade but also directly for cultivation.

Xiao Yan committed each detail to memory, quietly weighing things up.

Sovereigns, Earthly Sovereigns...

Judging by the pressure of heaven and earth he had felt when he fell, as well as the power remaining in his body now, his Dou Di Power at its peak would probably have been barely comparable to that of a so-called Earthly Sovereign in this world. Now that he was gravely injured and being constantly eroded by Spiritual Energy, there was no telling how far his strength had fallen.

"We're here!"

A Heng's cheer pulled Xiao Yan from his thoughts.

He raised his head, then paused in his tracks.

Ahead of them, a city of indescribable grandeur stretched silently between heaven and earth, like an ancient behemoth lying prone upon the land.

Its walls stood a thousand zhang high, built entirely of massive stones that shimmered faintly silver. Dense, intricate patterns were engraved across them, and a gentle light flowed slowly through the patterns before gathering over the walls. There, it formed a faint, almost imperceptible curtain of light that enveloped the entire city.

Xiao Yan could sense an astonishingly vast power within that curtain of light. Even at his peak, he probably would not have dared claim lightly that he could tear it open.

What a powerful formation... Xiao Yan was secretly startled.

Beyond the walls, countless towers and halls could be dimly seen, packed closely together. A river so broad it seemed boundless wound through the center of the city. Its surface shimmered with ripples, and countless boats of all sizes traveled back and forth.

At the river's source, in the very center of the city, a stone statue of a goddess stood silently, ten thousand zhang tall.

The statue was carved from white jade. The goddess wore a long dress and held a sword, her face appearing and disappearing amid the clouds and mist, impossible to see clearly. Even so, she still gave off a sense of holiness and majesty, as though she were guarding the countless people within the city.

"That's the statue of Luo Shen." A Heng followed Xiao Yan's gaze, her face full of reverence. "I heard she was the Luo God Clan's ancestor. Everyone in the Luo God Clan is her descendant."

Xiao Yan nodded silently, but a wave of emotion rose in his heart.

He had seen the imperial capital of the Jia Ma Empire, Sacred Pill City in the Central Plains, and the Hun Clan's blood-red Soul Realm, but no city had ever left him so profoundly shaken.

And this was merely one city in the Great Thousand World.

At the city gates, streams of people flowed like woven threads.

Xiao Yan joined the long queue with A Heng. He noticed that those entering the city had to pay a small, transparent crystal as an entrance fee. A Heng took one from her clothes and carefully handed it over, then looked at Xiao Yan with some embarrassment.

Only then did Xiao Yan realize that he had none of this world's money on him.

With a thought, he intended to take something from his Storage Ring, but when he inspected it, his brow suddenly furrowed.

The Storage Ring was piled high with countless treasures of heaven and earth that he had accumulated over the decades, as well as many medicinal pills he had refined himself. Any one of those pills would have been enough to stir up a storm of blood on the Dou Qi Continent.

But at this moment, Xiao Yan discovered that more than half of the pills had lost their luster. In just a few days, most of their medicinal power had actually dissipated, and fine cracks had even appeared on the surfaces of some.

It was as though those pills, too, were being silently assimilated by this world.

Xiao Yan's heart sank. He quickly checked again and found only a dozen or so pills that still retained their medicinal power. Every one of them was at least a seventh-tier pill, with extremely concentrated medicinal properties, which had allowed them to barely withstand that erosion.

This world... won't even spare medicinal pills?

Xiao Yan gave a bitter smile and casually took out a magic crystal used for trade on the Dou Qi Continent, handing it to the guard at the gate.

The guard took the magic crystal and glanced at it, then sneered and casually tossed it back. "What kind of lousy rock is this? There isn't a trace of Spiritual Energy in it. Do you think we collect junk here?"

A burst of laughter immediately rose from the people around them.

Xiao Yan was not angry. He was about to think of another way when A Heng gritted her teeth, took another crystal from her clothes and handed it over. Then she pulled Xiao Yan along and hurried through the gate with her head lowered.

"A Heng, that was..."

"It's all right!" A Heng quickly waved her hand, though her face reddened a little. "Brother Xiao, you can just pay me back when you have money later."

Looking at the girl's attempt to appear unconcerned, Xiao Yan knew those two crystals were probably what she had saved from selling herbs over several days. His heart warmed a little, but he said nothing more, silently remembering her kindness.

Once inside the city, A Heng went to sell her herbs at the medicine market in the south. Xiao Yan arranged a time to meet her at the city gate, then headed into the city alone.

He needed to learn the cultivation methods of this world.

He also needed money.

The only things of value he possessed were those dozen or so pills that had not yet been completely eroded, and his pill-refining skills, which surpassed all others on the Dou Qi Continent.

As he went, Xiao Yan deliberately slowed his pace, discreetly surveying his surroundings.

He saw a three-story pavilion by the street, with the words "Spirit Art Pavilion" written in large characters on its signboard. The people going in and out were all cultivators with formidable presences. Beside a window of the pavilion, two young men were talking in low voices. With his exceptional hearing, Xiao Yan faintly caught words such as "amplification" and "ten layers."

He saw a squad of silver-armored guards galloping down the long street on magnificent white horses with single horns on their heads. The horses' four hooves trod on empty air, carrying them several feet above the ground. Wherever they passed, pedestrians hurriedly moved aside, calling them the "Luo Shen Guard."

He also saw a ragged old man sitting cross-legged on the ground at a street corner. A beast hide was spread out before him, with several dull-looking medicinal pills on it and the words "for sale at a low price" written crookedly beside them. Yet the people passing by could not even be bothered to glance at them.

Xiao Yan stopped before the old man for a moment, sweeping his gaze over the pills. Something stirred in his mind.

Though the pills were crude in appearance, Xiao Yan could tell that the method used to refine them was completely different from that of the Dou Qi Continent. Inside the pills, medicinal power and Spiritual Energy blended in layer upon layer, forming a peculiar pattern, as though Spiritual Energy had been used as the framework of the pills.

So this is how pills are refined here...

Lost in thought, Xiao Yan quietly committed the shape of the pattern to memory, then continued on his way.

He knew he still had far, far too much to learn.

Xiao Yan looked at the long street before him, broad enough for ten carriages to travel side by side. Shops lined both sides, and the clamor of voices filled the air. All manner of spirit beasts he had never seen before walked slowly along the street, while strange fragrances and medicinal scents hung in the air.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward and joined the bustling stream of people.